Haryana IPS officer OP Singh urges shift from control to design in crowd management

Crowds have always been seen as difficult and risky, especially by governments and police forces. But senior Haryana IPS officer O.P. Singh believes that it is time to change this old way of thinking. In his upcoming book “Crowd Engineering: From Control to the New Science of Collective Behaviour,” Singh argues that crowds should not be treated as threats to be dispersed but as gatherings that can be shaped positively. He calls this approach “crowd engineering” — a way of designing constructive and meaningful assemblies that build trust and cooperation in society.

Singh, who has served in top policing roles and currently heads the Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau, says that simply suppressing or dispersing a crowd might solve a problem for an hour, but designing a crowd in the right way can create legitimacy and social harmony for years. His book explains why governments, institutions, and communities need to move beyond crowd control and embrace crowd design.

Crowds as natural expressions of society

The book begins with a basic question: why do humans gather? Singh explains that crowds are part of human nature. People come together for identity, solidarity, celebration, expression, or protest. In a democracy, such gatherings are not unusual or abnormal — they are a social reality. Therefore, instead of fearing or fighting crowds, societies should learn how to engage with them constructively.

He also points out that in today’s world, gatherings can form much more quickly than before because of digital communication. A message on social media can bring thousands of people together in just a few hours. This makes it harder for traditional policing and governance methods to manage crowds. Singh argues that new approaches are needed to keep pace with this speed of mobilisation.

The book also looks at international experiences. Singh studies examples from Asia, Europe, and America, showing that while contexts may differ, the basic patterns of collective human behaviour remain the same. Whether it is a festival, a protest, or a sports rally, crowds share certain energies and emotions that can either be destructive or constructive depending on how they are handled.

At the heart of Singh’s idea is the belief that crowds are designable. He proposes a framework he calls HARMONY — Honour, Aspiration, Ritual, Memory, Order in Synchrony, Narrative, and Joy. According to him, when these elements are encouraged in a gathering, the crowd can produce legitimacy, pride, and unity. If they are ignored, however, the same crowd can become confrontational or even violent.

Building legitimacy through designed gatherings

To explain his ideas, Singh gives examples from his own career in Haryana. He points to three initiatives that successfully created “designed crowds” with positive outcomes.

One was a sports scholarship programme. By rewarding children for excellence in sports, the programme did more than just support athletes. It brought together students, parents, teachers, and the community. It gave dignity and recognition to families, creating a crowd that celebrated achievement rather than one that protested neglect.

Another example was district marathons. These events inspired large participation and converted territorial pride into collective energy. People from different communities came together to run, cheer, and celebrate. In doing so, social divides dissolved, and the sense of belonging grew stronger.

The third was the Raahgiri initiative, where officials and citizens came together in open spaces for recreation and cycling. Traditionally, citizens saw officials as distant or aloof, but these gatherings helped bridge the gap. They created trust, because people felt included in shared public spaces rather than ignored or separated.

Each of these, Singh argues, was a designed crowd — gatherings shaped consciously to channel energy into cooperation and pride instead of confrontation.

Singh’s book goes beyond practice and calls for crowd engineering to be recognised as an independent field of study. He suggests that universities and research institutions should bring together disciplines like history, psychology, political science, anthropology, economics, disaster management, and urban planning to study crowds. By combining these perspectives, society can develop practical tools to deal with collective behaviour in smarter ways.

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He also puts forward an innovative idea — governments could create a calendar of “good crowds.” Festivals, sporting events, and civic activities could be timed and designed to channel public energy into constructive participation. This would prevent volatility by offering citizens opportunities to gather positively, leaving less space for destructive crowds to form.

For Singh, democracy is not only tested during elections at the ballot box. It is tested in the way crowds gather and behave. If handled poorly, a crowd can turn into a symbol of grievance and confrontation. But if designed well, it can become a symbol of aspiration, cooperation, and stability. Crowd engineering, he argues, offers the knowledge and practice to make this shift possible.

In his words, “Suppression disperses a crowd for an hour. Design builds legitimacy for years.” His philosophy is that instead of fearing crowds, societies should embrace them as opportunities for inclusion and trust-building. If governments, communities, and institutions accept this idea, then crowds will no longer be viewed as problems, but as powerful spaces of collective energy that can strengthen democracy itself.